iPad Disappointments and Strong Points

There was lots of excitement building up this recently announced product from Apple.  I was expecting something more like the ModBook http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook.

First some points not many other sources have touched on.

Any complaints you have about the iPhone, or iPod Touch, go the same for this, except the slow processor and small screen/resolution.

Like the iPhone, anyone I'm spending time with wants to borrow my iphone to look something up online, or play a game.  I don't mind sharing and and having something neat that eveyone likes, but get your own.  I don't want to enter a password evey time I want to unlock the phone, but I also want to keep my private things secure.  would be nice to have some way to unlock to the web browser, and games, with no pass, and then use the password to access contacts, photos and other things, also good if its ever lost.

This is not a stand alone item, you will need to hook it up to your computer occasionally.

This is not subsidiesed and so you don't need to sign a contract with a phone co. $30/month is reasonable for unlimited coverage.  Its data only and apple has unlocked VoIP features.  I don't see why they haven't set up a subsidiesed cheaper option though.

Apple used to be great at keeping the simple commonly used features presented and obvious to anyone, and for the advanced users the advanced features were a click or so away.  Now to get at the advanced features you have to jailbreak it.  Jail breaking is easy.  but it takes a while, you download the software, back up the iphone (takes a little while) use the software to modify the software package.  Then restore your software (this can take a few hrs depending on how much you had on there)  Why not put a simple jailbreak on off switch in the settings with a waring.

This will make encourage more software development for the platform, hopefully improving the millions of iphone/touches already out there.  Many of us are dissatisfied with the lack of some of the basic phone functions.  Not sure how the iPod Touch users feel.

Hardly any external buttons to control it.
you get the same as an iphone/touch, Home, Volume, Silence, Power. thats it
atleast trackball/touch-pad/stick/d-pad something anything.  I hate getting my fingers in my view.

The built in speakers don't seem to be in the best location for good sound, and Stereo
also the mic is on the opposite end of the speakers, this is good for at preventing feedback.
there is a distance measuring app that won't work because of this

I'm tired of the Bloatware, why do I need to wait for this thing to render a transition, just do it.  The transitions are smooth and don't lag much, but still its a half a second every time

Howbout the 160gb 1.8 inch rotational drive like the ipod classic has, or put both in for a total of 224gb


NAME: iPad
First disappointment that stands out the name iPad, theres plenty of feminine jokes about this name.  And the owner of a something with this name is sure to get made fun of.
It only a name maybe people will start to grow up about this type of thing.

PRICE: $$$
$500 for a 16GB
$600 for 32GB
$700 for 64GB
add $130 for 3G, and $30/month or $15 to get a measly 250mb/month

SIZE: Big for a portable
Its a giant iPod Touch.  not as portable as the iPhone or iTouch
this does mean a bigger screen, and a bit more than double the resolution.
currently the apps are spaced far appart, only giving 20 apps per page I would expect almost 64 if you used the iPhone spacing.  I already use 12 pages on my iphone.

Weight 1.5 LBS
while not much this will get heavy in your hands, after enough time, probably a good signal to get up and do something.

Processor: A4
Apple's proprietary A4 an arm processor.  Its not great but its not bad, would be nice if they used an intel Atom.

Screen: 1024x768
This is your basic HD resolution. Looks great, till you get finger prints all over it


Software: Locked Down
It uses the same OS as iPhone/Touch.  The only apps you can get must be through the app store.  I'm sure the guys at http://www.iphonehacks.com/ will jailbreak this about as quickly as the iphone/touch.  While the OS lacks many features,
There are a few good apps, and lots of useless junk.  Some good programs won't get approved.
I look forward to OS 4.0 .  iPhones are on 3.1.2 and in the works is 3.2.   I'd also like to see Android on there.  My iphone is the 3G not 3GS.  It currently crashes a lot and slows down often.
There is no Multitasking, I expect jailbreaking will fix this
Good part is Lots of people are used to the way the iPhone/Touch works

Connection:
Wireless 802.11n great. Bluetooth ok, 3g, what about Wimax?
30pin doc ok so I can plug one thing in with a special connector. what about standard USB
this 30pin dock will plug into an overpiced memory adapter, keybord/dock or video, and component video output, not even apple's mini dv.  Apple has always worked on reducing wires and clutter, but give people some options, but having to plug in some bluky adapter, and cary them with you is not the best chouice, when they don't take up much space when built in

Removeable: No
Built in battery, 10 hrs is decent, but user removeable would be nice
Built in memory, no upgrading

Keyboard:
Would be nice to have a real keyboard


WEB: No Flash
Most people might now know what this is. But lots of sites use it.  And if you go to a site that does, all you will see is a little pic letting you know you need a plugin you cant get.
Maybe this will be in an update, and yes HTML 5 is better, but many sites haven't updated yet

Cameral: None
No Still pics, no video, no cam on the back and no cam on the front for video chatting.  and no Flash of they kind everyone knows what it is.


Some stuff they did right
WiFi a/b/g/n connect to any wifi
bluetooth 2.1 EDR (stereo blue tooth and faster data)
Quad Band GSM and TriBand 3G (cellular anywhere with the right model)
Digital Compas (great for google maps and enhanced reality apps)
GPS
64GB SSD is good
The processor seems fast
3 axis accelerometer
ambient light sensor

This could be a great device.
Apple mentioned they wanted to make the price low, I don't think its low enough for what it does, but I'm sure many people will buy this.
It is simple to use and doesn't get cluttered like most computers do.

I"ll use my family as an example, everything is on the desktop, every user only uses the main users login.  Last time something didn't work on their computer (couldn't find a file) I went to work on it, and there were so many items on the desktop (I had set it up to auto snap to grid for them) it was filled and had a stack of 100 items.  This is a good example of PEBCAK (problem exists between chair and keyboard)  the search function would have worked fine, or utilizing folders to organize things.
The next revision will have many features I think, typical company using planned obsolescence  to make a profit.  If this was launched before the iphone/touch it probably would have failed horribly.

sorry bout the spelling and grammar, they are not my strong points, I probably should not be blogging, but this is just me using a popular news item I felt like writing about (i usually don't like to write. I writing this for some shameless self promotion to drive some traffic here, at least I'm honest. Mostly because I'm unemployed, and my old websites didn't get much traffic, or generate any money for me. I rarely reread my work, I should but I don't like spending the time, and I usually miss stuff anyway.  I just want to get a little something posted to see if it even gets any attention for me.  I probably should not have included this last paragraph, and now I'm rambling.  My writing skills do not reflect well on my intelligence and I realize this, I'm working on it so go easy on me.